Relates in vigorous prose the tale of Aeneas, the legendary ancestor of Romulus, who escaped from the burning city of Troy and wandered the Mediterranean for years before settling in Italy. Patterned after the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Aeneid was composed as an epic poem by Virgil, to glorify the imperial city of Rome. Ages 8-12

162 pages

$9.95

OF THE VOYAGE OF ÆNEAS

[57] AS long as the Greeks remained in the land of Troy,
Æneas and his friends lay hid among the hills. But they
had not to do this for very long. The Greeks were glad
enough to go to their homes, which they had not seen
for ten years. So they put the spoils which they had
taken out of the city, with the prisoners, into their
ships, and set sail. Then the Trojans came out of their
hiding-places, and began to cut down pine trees on
Mount Ida—this was the name of the biggest of the
hills, among which they had taken refuge—and to build
ships. They had made up their minds to leave the land
of Troy, and to find a new home somewhere else. This
was the second time that the city had been destroyed,
and the place seemed to be unlucky.
By this time a great number
[58] of people had come
together. Some had escaped in one way or another from
the city; some had been sold as slaves, and had run
away from their masters, or had been set free. Many
ships, therefore, had to be built; but in the spring
all was ready, and they set sail; very sorry they were
to go, for they were leaving their country for ever,
and they did not know where they should find another
home.

They had sailed but a very little way when they came to
a country called Thrace. For a time they thought that
this was just the place which they wanted. The
Thracians had been very good friends to Troy in former
times. While the war was going on many of their
warriors had come to fight for King Priam. So Æneas
began to make a plan for a city, laying the foundation,
and marking out the lines of streets and squares. But
while he was busy with these things, he found out in a
very strange way, that a very dreadful deed had been
done by the
[59] King of Thrace, and that he had better go
away as fast as he could. What had happened was this.
While Troy was still standing, King Priam had sent away
one of his sons, and with him a very large quantity of
gold, to the King of Thrace. This man was an old
friend, and Priam thought to himself: "If anything
should happen to Troy and to me, still there would be
something safe. There would be the boy to keep up the
old name, and he would have plenty of money to help
him." But when Troy was taken by the Greeks this wicked
king murdered the poor boy, and kept the gold for
himself. When Æneas found this out, he said to himself,
"A country where such wicked things are done is no home
for us," and he set sail again.

The next place which he came to was an island called
Delos. Once, it was said, it had been a floating
island, but then it was fixed and firm, and it was the
place where Apollo and his sister dwelt, who were the
same, as men believed in those days, as the sun and the
moon. Here there was a very famous temple of Apollo,
and the priest
[60] of the temple was also the king of the
island. Now Apollo had always been a friend to Troy,
and when the priest knew who the strangers were that
had come to the island, he went to meet them, and gave
them a kind welcome, and took Æneas into his own
palace. Then Æneas thought to himself: "I will ask the
god to tell where I should go." So he went to the
temple, and made an offering according to custom, and
said: "O Apollo, hear me, for thou wert always a friend
to Troy. Give, I pray thee, a place where we, who alone
are left, may rest, a land of our own, and a kingdom
that shall endure for ever. Tell us whither we should
go, whom we should follow, and what we may look for.
And speak plainly, I beseech thee, so that I may
understand." Scarcely had he ended these words, when
there was heard a loud rumbling sound, and the temples,
and the laurel grove which stood about it, and the very
hills around, were shaken. After this there came from
out the middle of the temple a clear voice, speaking
these words: "Sons of Troy, go boldly forth; seek the
land where your fathers, who lived in the
[61] old time were
born; the country which first sent you out shall
welcome you again; then the house of Æneas shall grow
and prosper till it shall reign over the whole world."

Great was the joy with which Æneas and his followers
heard these words. But then they began to think to
themselves: "What is the land of our fathers? what is
its name? where is it?" nor could any one answer these
questions till old Anchises, after much turning of the
matter over in his mind, said: "My children, be not
troubled or doubtful any more. I know the meaning of
what the god has told us. There is a famous island in
the southern part of this sea where now we are, and its
name is Crete. This is the place where great Jupiter
himself was born, and it is sacred to him. Far and wide
it reaches; there are a hundred cities in it; and there
is a Mount Ida, even as there is in our own land of
Troy. It is from this island of Crete that our fathers
came in old time. One Teucer was their chief; he came
to the land which we have just left, and dwelt in it in
the old days before Troy was built. Let us set sail
without delay, having
[62] first made such offerings as it
is meet to make. If the winds be favourable, we shall
come to Crete on the third morning from now." So they
made the offerings; one bull to Neptune, god of the
sea; another to Apollo; a white sheep to the gentle
winds, and a black one to the stormy. They knew, too,
that the King of Crete, who was one of those that had
come to fight against Troy, had been banished; and they
were glad to think that they should not find an enemy
in the country.

When these things were done, Æneas and his men set out.
They set their sails, and rowed with their oars, and
the sailors shouted "Crete!" "Crete!" so glad were they
to think that they were about to find a home. In due
time they came to the island. And here again Æneas,
being quite sure that he had found the right place,
began to make plans for a city. In Thrace he had called
it Ænos after himself; but this was to be Pergamos, for
this had been the name of the citadel in old Troy. But
after a time everything seemed to go wrong. The air
seemed to be poisoned, and the winds that blew
[63] seemed
to parch the grass and to blast the corn. The cattle
were destroyed by plague, and some of the people died,
while nearly all suffered from fever and agues. All
this greatly grieved Æneas, and he made up his mind to
go to Delos and ask Apollo whether he had made any
mistake and whither he really ought to go.

That very night, when all were asleep, he only being
awake, for he was in too great trouble to sleep, he saw
before him in the light of the moon, which was shining
through the window of his room, the household gods
which he had carried away from Troy. Quite plainly did
he see them, and he heard them say these words: "What
you are going to Delos to ask, Apollo bids us tell you
here. We are the gods whom you saved out of the ruins
of burning Troy; we are your companions; we share your
fate, we will bring you to the country which is meant
for you, and from which your children's children will
rule the world. Do not grow weary of wandering. You
must look for another home, for Crete is not the place
in which Apollo told you to dwell. There is a country
called
[64] Hesperia, the land of the West; it is an ancient
land; its people are strong and brave. That is our
proper home; it was from this that our first father
came. Tell this then to the old man, your father, that
Apollo bids you go to Hesperia which men also call
Italy. As for Crete, it is not meant for you."

Æneas lay in his bed and listened in a great fear, for
he saw the gods quite plainly and not at all as if he
were dreaming. Then he got up from his bed, prayed and
offered sacrifice, and afterwards went and told his
father what he had seen and heard. The old man said: "I
was wrong when I said that Crete was the place from
which our fathers came. And now I remember that in the
days when Troy still stood Cassandra used to speak
about Hesperia and Italy. But who would have thought
that we who dwelt in Asia should ever go to the land of
the West? And no one at that time believed the things
which Cassandra spoke. But now let us obey the
commands of Apollo and depart."

So the Trojans put all that they had on board their
ships and departed. As soon as they were out of sight
of land a great storm
[65] arose. The wind blew fiercely,
and the waters were like mountains, and there was much
thunder and lightning. For three days they did not see
the sun, and for three nights they did not see the
stars, nor did they know where they were. On the fourth
day they came in sight of land, with hills, and smoke
rising as it might be from the houses of men. So the
sailors rowed with all their might and soon brought the
ships to land.

They found that it was a pleasant island, with fields
in which there were herds of oxen and flocks of goats
feeding; but they could not see any one who was looking
after them. By this time the Trojans were very tired
and hungry; so they took some of the oxen and of the
goats, and killed them, and cooked their flesh. Also
they fetched wine from their ships, and sat down, and
began to eat and drink. But they did not know what the
place to which they had come really was or what kind of
creatures lived there. These creatures were called
Harpies, a name which means "Snatchers." These were
wicked women who had been changed into a horrible kind
of birds. They were like vultures which feed on dead
[66] bodies, and they had the wings of birds, and claws
instead of hands; they had the faces of women, but with
a look on them as if they were starving. Suddenly,
then, the Trojans, while eating and drinking, heard a
great noise of wings, and in a moment the Harpies had
come down, and snatched the flesh which the men were
eating, and carried it off; and what they did not carry
off they made so dirty that no one could bear to have
it near him. Then the Trojans went to another place,
which was close to a rock, and so sheltered in a way.
There they made another dinner ready; but scarcely had
they begun to eat, when the Harpies came down
again—whether from the same place as before or from
another no one knew—and snatched away the meat again,
and spoilt what was left. Then the Trojans went to a
third spot, and prepared their food; only this time
they hid their swords and spears in the grass by their
sides. When they saw the Harpies come again, they
jumped up and laid hold of the swords and spears and
tried to kill the creatures. But it was of no use;
their skin was too hard to be wounded; the steel could
not be driven through the
[67] feathers. Still, though they
could not be killed, they were driven away, and flew to
their holes among the cliffs. Only one remained; this
settled on a rock out of the reach of the men, and said
these words in a man's voice:

"Listen; was it not enough that you should kill our
cattle? Will you drive us away from our own island?
Hear my words, for these are the words of fate. This is
what the gods, Jupiter and Apollo, whom you think to be
your friends, decree. You will come at last to the land
of Italy; that is settled. But know that before you
build the walls of your new city you will be so hungry
that you will be driven to eat the very tables on which
you set your meat."

When the dreadful creature had said these words, she
flew away. Then the old man Anchises lifted up his
hands to the skies, and prayed that these things might
not come upon them or might be turned to their good.

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